A Day Late and a Dollar Short

Sunday's Chicago Tribune carried an editorial piece called "A new Plan of Chicago: 12 ways to heal our city." Well, wouldn't you know it, the first 'way' to heal the city dealt with schools. Actually, I found the argument to have some merit but I mostly came away from reading about 'schools as tools' laughing. A lamentable laugh have you.

The editorial calls for the recently closed public schools to be revived as community centers. Here's why it's laughable. First, CPS didn't put the money into keeping these schools going in the first place. Just who does the Tribune see as putting in the massive funding to revive the buildings as community centers? That's just pie in the sky.

Laughable because the schools shouldn't have been closed in the first place. Many were functioning quite well at the time of closing. Had the buildings remained open then adding a community center within the schools would likely have been smoother and more likely to happen with the building already in use.

All the reasons for having a community center have merit. No argument here. Why on earth did the powers that be in City Hall and at CPS as well as within the school communities - not to mention the editorial board at the Trib - put forth the idea when the schools were humming with activity.

Your guess is as good as mine!!

Dick